Isaac Soreau (active Hanau 1620-1638), A still life of grapes in a basket, mulberries in a wanli kraak porcelain bowl and flowers in a glass vase on a stone ledge. Photo courtesy Bonhams.
oil on panel; 49.2 x 65.7cm (19 3/8 x 25 7/8in). Estimate£400,000 - 600,000 (€480,000 - 730,000)
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Bordeaux, France, by 1840
Private Collection, England 1974-1984
With Speelman, London, 1987, from whom purchased by the present owner
EXHIBITED: London, John Mitchell & Sons, The Inspiration of Nature, 27 October - 13 November 1976, pp. 50-51, ill. The exhibition travelled to Draper's Hall (London, 17 November - 1 December 1976)
LITERATURE: G. Bott, 'Stillebenmaler des 17 Jahrhunderts; Isaak Soreau, Peter Binoit, in Kunst in Hessen und am Mittelrhein, Darmstadt, 1962
G. Bott, Die Stillebenmaler Soreau, Binoit, Codino un Marrell in Hanau und Frankfurt 1600-1650, Hanau, 2001, cat. no. WV.IS.17, p. 177, ill.
E. Greindl, Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Sterrebeek, 1983, p. 383, Soreau no. 15, ill. p. 69, fig. 43
The porcelain bowl in the present work is identical to that in the artist's only known signed painting that is in the State Museum, Schwerin (inv. no. 967, signed and dated 1638). Both paintings also depict similar baskets of grapes. Two further versions showing the almost identical composition to the present still life by Soreau are in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin (on panel, 54 x 72 cm, inv. no. 291) and the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland (on panel, 48.9 x 60 cm., inv. no. 37, 1902). Another very similar composition by Soreau, showing the grapes on a pewter plate but with another identical bowl, was sold, Christie's, London, 16 December 1998, lot 8 (£570,000). It is interesting to note that the latter was painted on an Antwerp panel, which is not surprising, since Isaac's father was born there and the Flemish influence of still life painters such as Osias Beert and Jacob van Hulsdonck is noticeable in Soreau's works.
Bonhams. OLD MASTER PAINTINGS. London, New Bond Street. 4 Dec 2013 14:00 GMT - www.bonhams.com